Cycling Books for cyclists to read about cycling

100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Road Cyclist's Guide to Britain's Hills

2011-09-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Road Cyclist's Guide to Britain's Hills

Review
A must-have for any British cyclist and an essential read for anyone who thinks they know their way around the hills of the British Isles. --Cycling Weekly Once you've opened pandora's box you won't be able to show up at your next club run until you've bagged them all. - London Cyclist An almost perfect handbook. --Time Out

The book does exactly what it says on the tin. The Sunday Times The photos are excellent, the information is well presented and the book is the ideal size - I can see myself referring to 100 Greatest cycling climbs for years to come. Bromley Video 100 Greatest cycling climbs is one of those books that you always thought existed but didn't the panoply of UK cycling ephemera is greatly enhanced with it's release. Brilliant. --The washing machine post

Great little digest of UK climbs, every cycling home should have one. --Road CC.

Cycling is Britain’s biggest boom sport and nowhere is the boom more evident than on the road: once seen as the preserve of serious racers, the road bike has recently found a new lease of life due to the popularity of challenge rides and Sportives. It is now possible for cyclists of all abilities to ride a well marked, well marshalled event just about any weekend of the year, usually based around one, two or sometimes as many as ten fearsome hills. For the first time, here is a pocket-sized guide to the 100 greatest climbs in the land, the building blocks for these rides, written by a cyclist for cyclists. From lung busting city centre cobbles to leg breaking windswept mountain passes, this guide locates the roads that have tested riders for generations and worked their way into cycling folklore. Whether you’re a leisure cyclist looking for a challenge or an elite athlete trying to break records stick this book in your pocket and head for the hills.

Boy Racer, Mark Cavendish

2011-09-26T02:51:00.000-07:00

Boy Racer

Review
'Boy Racer, is essentially a masterclass in the art of winning relayed through the eyes of a young, hungry and sometimes impatient embryo superstar with a penchant for entertaining industrial language. It is also highly personal and revelatory and gives you a unique insight to one of Britain's most successful and respected sportsmen worldwide.' --Brendan Gallagher, Daily Telegraph

Review
"Boy Racer - expertly ghosted by the cycling journalist Daniel Friebe to catch the inner conflict between the impetuousness that makes Cavendish such a daunting competitor and the introspection that makes him such an interesting person - winds its way to the top step of the podium from BMX races as a ten-year-old via spells as a bank clerk in the Douglas branch of Barclays and as a resident of the academy run by British Cycling."

Breaking the Chain: Drugs and Cycling - The True Story

2009-10-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

The publishing of Breaking the Chain must surely rub salt into cycling's ugly wounds. The sport is still reeling from the explosion of controversy that was sparked by the arrest of Team Festina backroom staff member Willy Voet and his cargo of narcotics, on the Franco-Belgian border on July 8, 1998. The subsequent police investigation uncovered a drugs scandal that destroyed that year's Tour de France but Voet sensationally claims in Breaking The Chain, endemic cheating has been at the heart of the sport for years.

Voet's role as team "pharmacist"--ferrying and administering the cocktails of performance-enhancing drugs--made him the invisible hand that shaped the fortunes of one of the sport's most successful teams and he spares little detail in relating how it was done. Step-by-step guides to the business of "charging" on amphetamines and testosterone, administering mid-race injections and the secrets of beating the dope tests, are revealed for the first time.

.You slip the part of the tube fitted with the condom up the backside, inject clean urine up the tube ... cork it and stick it to the skin following the line of the perineum as far as the testicles ... this system was never bettered ... I used it for three years without any worries.

This is an astonishing story and Voet's is an amusing, candid voice--strong on the thrills of cheating and on the horrors of being caught--but given the ongoing investigations, and that fact the Voet, along with other senior members of the Festina team, is living under the cloud of a suspended prison sentence, it is hard to gauge whether the author's version of events has itself been "doctored". He names specific individuals related to the Festina case but protects the identities of other cheats that he claims operated on the pro circuit and it remains to be seen whether the full story of the scandal has now been told. --Alex Hankin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Cycling Anatomy

2009-10-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

This book allows readers to see what it takes to maximise cycling power, speed and endurance! "Cycling Anatomy" will give readers the knowledge to improve their performance by increasing muscular strength and optimising the efficiency of every movement. "Cycling Anatomy" features 74 of the most effective cycling exercises, each with clear, step-by-step descriptions and full-colour anatomical illustrations highlighting the primary muscles in action. This book goes beyond exercises by placing with illustrations of the active muscles involved in cornering, climbing, descending and sprinting, detailing exactly the exercises which are fundamentally linked to cycling performance. From steep inclines to slick terrains, "Cycling Anatomy" will ensure cyclists are prepared for any challenge in the road ahead. Riders can learn how to modify exercises to target specific areas, reduce muscle tension and minimise common cycling injuries, finally learning ways to pull it all together to develop training based on the individuals needs and goals. Whether training for an upcoming century ride or just trying to best that killer hill with strength to spare, "Cycling Anatomy" will ensure every reader gets the most out of every ride.

A Racing Cyclist's Worst Nightmare: And Other Stories of the Golden Age

2009-10-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sheffielder Tony Hewson is a former champion racing cyclist who won the 1955 Tour of Britain and went on to represent his country in the Warsaw - Berlin - Prague and the Tour de France. His first book, "In Pursuit of Stardom", was a widely acclaimed memoir of the 1950s telling how he and his companions faced handicap and privation in their struggle to earn a living a-wheel on the European continent. "A Cyclist's Worst Nightmare" covers a similar time-scope, though as a collection of individual but interrelated stories it employs a variety of different literary genres - autobiography, biography, discourse and fiction. Whilst each piece can be enjoyed in its own right, the work as a whole casts light on an era of UK cycling history in the aftermath of World War II that until now has been somewhat neglected and forgotten. Some events, for example the tumultuous birth and demise of the rebel British League of Racing Cyclists that split the sport and framed its future, have ramifications to this day. From foul-mouthed Jean Robic ('I haven't enough enemies!') to aggressive Korean war-veteran Reg ('Heroes we were - fat thanks we get.') via bullied national service 'nutter' Michael ('a queer boy wi' them fancy togs n' that weird show-off bike'), the mood is one of a shared sense of grievance from real and imagined characters who see themselves as put-upons in search of recognition. The theme of the social outsider will ring bells with any reader who has ever been a committed cyclist in the British Isles, and will also be of interest to many who have not.

Cycling Home from Siberia, Rob Lilwall

2009-10-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

It is late October, and the temperature is already -40C...My thoughts are filled with frozen rivers that may or may not hold my weight; empty, forgotten valleys haunted by emaciated ghosts and packs of ravenous, merciless wolves.

In 2004 Rob Lilwall arrived in Siberia equipped only with a bike and a healthy dose of fear. CYCLING HOME FROM SIBERIA recounts his epic three and a half year, 30,000 mile journey back to England via the foreboding jungles of Papua New Guinea, an Australian cyclone and Afghanistan's war-torn Hindu Kush.

A gripping story of endurance and adventure, this is also a spiritual journey giving a poignant insight into life on the road in some of the world's toughest corners.
www.cyclinghomefromsiberia.com

The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling: Build the Strength, Skills and Confidence to Ride as Far as You Want

2009-10-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

A guide to training for distance offers strategies and riding techniques, and explains how to design a training plan, maximize nutrition, avoid injury and overtraining, prepare mentally, build a milage base, and select equipment.

Two Wheels: Thoughts from the Bike Lane, Matt Seaton

2009-10-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Cycling is going through a revolution. Over half a million of us take to our bicycles every day and, as a result, the public image of cycling has been transformed. No longer the preserve of the marginal and eccentric few, it's now considered cool to travel on two wheels. Guardian journalist Matt Seaton is one of cycling's greatest advocates.

An out-and-out bike nut, he rides to work during the week, races at the weekend and has even been known to attend transport policy conferences in between. In this collection, Seaton not only explores a nation's rediscovered love of cycling, he also investigates the issues that affect all cyclists, from potholes and town planning to cycling etiquette and aesthetics. Whether you're a commuter or a competitive racer, a recreational rider or a cycle tourist, this book will prove irresistible - and enlightening - reading.

Its Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. Lance Armstrong

2009-10-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

People around the world have found inspiration in the story of Lance Armstrong--a world-class athlete nearly struck down by cancer, only to recover and win the Tour de France, the multiday bicycle race famous for its gruelling intensity.

Armstrong is a thoroughgoing Texan jock, and the changes brought to his life by his illness are startling and powerful, but he's just not interested in wearing a hero suit. While his vocabulary is a bit on the he-man side (highest compliment to his wife: "she's a stud"), his actions will melt the most hard-bitten souls: a cancer foundation and benefit bike ride, his astonishing commitment to training that got him past countless hurdles, loyalty to the people and corporations that never gave up on him.

There's serious medical detail here, which may not be for the faint of heart; from chemo to surgical procedures to his wife's in vitro fertilization, you won't be spared a single x-ray, IV drip, or unfortunate side effect. Athletes and coaches everywhere will benefit from the same extraordinary detail provided about training sessions--every aching tendon, every rainy afternoon, and every small triumph during his long recovery is here in living colour.

It's Not About the Bike is the perfect title for this book about life, death, illness, family, setbacks, and triumphs, but not especially about the bike. --Jill Lightner, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Express on Sunday
‘If you read just one sports book this year, this is the one'

The Man Who Cycled the World, Mark Beaumont

2009-09-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

On 15 February 2008, Mark Beaumont pedalled through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 194 days and 17 hours previously, he had set off from Paris in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time.

Mark smashed the Guinness World Record by an astonishing 81 days. He had travelled more than 18,000 miles on his own through some of the harshest conditions one man and his bicycle can endure, camping wild at night and suffering from constant ailments.

The Man Who Cycled the World is the story not just of that amazing achievement, but of the events that turned Mark Beaumont into the man he is today. From the early years of his free-spirited childhood in the Scottish countryside, he had been determined to break records, cycling across Scotland and then from John O'Groats to Land's End by the age of fifteen, raising thousands of pounds for charity. After leaving university, he had been equally determined not to settle for an average existence, but to break free and see the world from a saddle, to follow his dreams.

This is the tale not just of one of the last great circumnavigation world records, and of the incredible endurance it took to accomplish it, but an insight into many of the world's cultures from a unique perspective. From Paris to Istanbul, through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and south-east Asia to Singapore, then across Australia, New Zealand and the United States before the final legs in Europe, all at hundred miles a day, this is the story of a quite remarkable adventure, by a quite remarkable man.

Boy Racer, Mark Cavendish

2009-09-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

"Boy Racer" steps behind the scenes of the Tour de France. It unmasks the exotic, contradictory, hysterical and brutal world of professional cycling from the compellingly candid viewpoint of someone right in the thick of it. Written off as 'fat' and 'useless' in his youth, Mark Cavendish is now cycling's brightest star. His extraordinary quadruple stage-win at last year's Tour proved him Britain's best ever cyclist. Some have called him cocky, but to anyone who doesn't like his style, Mark will simply shrug his shoulders and reply, 'I know I'm good. There's no point lying about it.' Peers say that they have never seen anyone with Cavendish's hunger for success and while this fearlessness - both in the saddle and on the record - has at times led to controversy, it has also earned him the respect of ever more fans. In "Boy Racer", we follow him through the mayhem of the Tour de France in a page-turning journey of pure exhilaration.

'Boy Racer, is essentially a masterclass in the art of winning relayed through the eyes of a young, hungry and sometimes impatient embryo superstar with a penchant for entertaining industrial language. It is also highly personal and revelatory and gives you a unique insight to one of Britain's most successful and respected sportsmen worldwide.' --Brendan Gallagher, Daily Telegraph

"Boy Racer - expertly ghosted by the cycling journalist Daniel Friebe to catch the inner conflict between the impetuousness that makes Cavendish such a daunting competitor and the introspection that makes him such an interesting person - winds its way to the top step of the podium from BMX races as a ten-year-old via spells as a bank clerk in the Douglas branch of Barclays and as a resident of the academy run by British Cycling."

Every Second Counts, Lance Armstrong

2009-09-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

In the opening of Lance Armstrong's memoir, Every Second Counts (coauthored by Sally Jenkins), he reflects: "Generally, one of the hardest things in the world to do is something twice." While he is talking here about his preparation for what would prove to be his second consecutive Tour de France victory in 2000, the sentiment could equally be applied to the book itself. And just as Armstrong managed to repeat his incredible 1999 tour victory, Every Second Counts repeats--and, in some ways exceeds—the success of his bestselling first memoir, It's Not About the Bike.

Every Second Counts confronts the challenge of moving beyond his cancer experience, his first Tour victory and his celebrity status. Few of Armstrong's readers will ever compete in the Tour de France (though cyclists will relish Armstrong's detailed recounting of his 2000-2003 tour victories), but all will relate to his discussions of loss and disappointment in his personal and professional life since 1999. They will relate to his battles with petty bureaucracies, such as the French court system during the doping scandal that almost halted his career. And they will especially relate to constant struggles with work/life balance.

Lance Armstrong's story is the stuff of legends', Independent .'With sports books, as in the cinema, sequels usually disappoint. But cycling legend Lance Armstrong's follow-up to his bestseller It's Not About the Bike is an exception...He is a genuine hero...', Sunday Telegraph

In Search of Robert Millar: Unravelling the Mystery Surrounding Britain's Most Successful Tour De France Cyclist

2009-09-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Even though Mark Cavendish has recently eclisped Millar's record as far as British Cyclists in the TDeF go, the story of Millar makes for an interesting read.

The compelling story of Britain's best-ever cyclist -- one of the most enigmatic, complex and contradictory athletes in any sport -- and the unravelling of the puzzle surrounding his sudden and dramatic disappearance.

Fully updated with new material on the enigmatic Millar. Cyclist Robert Millar came from one of Europe's most industrialised cities, Glasgow, to excel in the most unlikely terrain -- over the high mountain passes of the Pyrenees and the Alps. He was crowned King of the Mountains during the 1984 Tour de France and remains the only ever Briton to finish on the podium of the world's toughest race.

In attitude and appearance he was unconventional -- the malnourished-looking young Scot with the tiny stud in his ear who could be prickly, irascible and unapproachable -- but to many followers he was the epitome of cool. Flying the flag for British cycling, this one-off original became a cult hero.In Search of Robert Millar will follow the career of this other-worldly character, from his tough childhood on the streets of Glasgow in the 1960s to his move to France and success in the world's most brutal and unforgiving races, including the controversy surrounding his positive drugs test and his enforced retirement from the sport at the age of 36.

It examines what set Millar apart from all other British cyclists who tried, and failed, to make an impact in this most European of sports, describing his single-mindedness, his eccentricity and the humour and intelligence that emerged only towards the end of his career. It also proffers explanations for his subsequent disappearance, which repeated a familiar pattern: he vanished from Glasgow and never returned; he left his wife and son and his adopted country, France.

Now, it appears, he has turned his back on cycling (amid rumours that he had undergone a sex-change operation). Through interviews with Millar's friends, acquaintances, cycling colleagues and ex-classmates, author Richard Moore helps to unravel the mystery of this maverick Scotsman, arguably one of the greatest enigmas in a sport full of remarkable characters.

'As riveting a read as any detective story, as well as an intriguing attempt to separate myth from fact.' The Metro '..a prodigious work of research, (which)..delivers overdue illumination of a fascinating Scot'. The Glasgow Herald 'A classic bird-like climber, light and wiry in build, Millar was the best British cyclist, all round, since Tom Simpson.' William Fotheringham 'A fine portrait of Britain's most successful Tour de France cyclist.' 'The author's meticulous but lively book traces Millar's journey from Glasgow's tenements to the Alps and the Pyrenees, in whose company he had few peers.' The Scotsman.

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France, Tim Moore

2009-09-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Comic writer Tim Moore trades his ailing Rolls Royce for a bicycle, a map and a water bottle in French Revolutions. This is a quest to pedal the route of the Tour de France, no mean feat for the fit, let alone a self-described suburban slouch.

The resulting 2,256-haphazard-mile journey transforms Moore into an incredibly fit and passionately proud cyclist. Initially, Moore takes the "I will do it and it probably will kill me" approach.

His normal perspective, as a stooge to life's misfortunes, plays well as he prepares to ride the route of the 2000 Tour de France. Moore is the everyman who pedalled in youth and now wouldn't ride a bike to the corner store. But unlike a traveller by car, train or plane, Moore has to navigate France under his own steam. Somewhere around the Ventoux, the world's windiest place, Moore starts to change. He becomes enraptured by the feat itself as mile by mile he realises he is no longer an accidental cyclist but a lean, mean cycling machine. Gradually, the narrative turns from travel to a personal quest.

Along the route, Moore's details of the heroes of the Tour make an excellent primer on this gruelling race and helps the uninitiated understand the frenzy that grips France each July as the races meanders through incidental villages, over mountains and, finally, into Paris. It is worth reading for that alone.

Having survived mountains of pain, a disgusting diet and motels of dubious value, a new, muscular Moore concludes that "I might never leave my mark on the Tour, but that didn't matter. It has left its mark on me".

To follow Moore's path of perspiration is certainly not a vacation. Yet, this curmudgeonly clever and inspirational book makes one want to do just that. "Old Father Time was catching up with Old Father Tim. If I didn't do it this year, I wouldn't because maybe next year I couldn't," he says before starting out. And that, as Tim Moore so surely points out, is what pushes any true traveller out the door.

Lance Armstrong: The World's Greatest Chapion

2009-09-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Few champions have astonished the world as much as Lance Armstrong. A cancer survivor who went on to win the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times, he is an inspiration to millions. Now the full story can be told. With complete access to Armstrong, and to his inner circle, and drawing on interviews with family members and training partners, coaches and celebrities, team-mates and rivals, friends and foes, sportswriter John Wilcockson tells of those who helped Armstrong along the way including his mother Linda, his ex-wife Kristin and one-time fiancée Sheryl Crow and explores the traits of character that made Armstrong unique.

The story of Lance Armstrong is one of brutal, painful effort, of natural brilliance, of relentless ambition, of extraordinary glory. His achievement is all the more stunning for its unconventionality: a boy from small-town

America

who beat the world. Brash and fiercely competitive, Armstrong has never been without close friends or bitter enemies. His achievements have been dogged by accusations of doping, accusations of secrecy, and by questions about how triumph on such a grand scale could be possible - questions that are addressed head on in LANCE ARMSTRONG. Tracing the highs and lows, and bringing alive the drama of the races in which Armstrong smashed expectations time after time, LANCE ARMSTRONG gives the complete story of a matchless champion.

Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi, William Fotheringham

2009-09-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

Voted the most popular Italian sportsman of the twentieth century, Fausto Angelo Coppi was the campionissimo - champion of cycling champions. The greatest cyclist of the immediate postwar years, Coppi's scandalous divorce and controversial death convulsed Italy in the 1950s and were still making headlines half a century later. In "Fallen Angel", William Fotheringham, author of the definitive biography of Tom Simpson, tells Coppi's story for the first time for an English-speaking audience.

Coppi was the first man to win cycling's great double, the Tour de France and Tour of Italy in the same year - and he did it twice. He achieved mythical status for his crushing solo victories, world titles and world records. His epic rivalry with Gino Bartali divided Italian opinion for a decade.

But his significance extends far beyond his sport. Coppi's divorce remains a landmark case in Italy's shift away from the church. In the 1950s, adultery in Italy was still a criminal offence, punishable by up to a year in prison. Coppi and his lover, the 'White Lady' Giulia Occhini, both married with children, were dragged from their beds in the middle of the night. They were excommunicated, and a clamorous legal battle followed. The 'White Lady' was forced to leave the country; Coppi himself died aged just forty, from malaria contracted during an insignificant race in Africa. "Fallen Angel" tells the story of Coppi's tragic life and death, of how a man who became the symbol of a nation's rebirth after the disasters of war died reviled and heartbroken. It is a unique portrait of Italy and Italian sport at a time of tumultuous social change.

Bad Blood: The Secret Life of the Tour de France, Jeremy Whittle

2009-09-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

For Jeremy Whittle, there isn't much in life as spectacular as the Tour de France: sweat-streaked, taut and burnished athletes toiling across vast and ancient European landscapes, hundreds of thousands of fans lining the route. The twisting Mediterranean roads, the jerseys, the peloton in full flight - these have become as familiar to him as the lines around his eyes.

And then there are the riders: men of almost superhuman capabilities, men who have become his friends, men whose stories he has written day in day out for the past decade. But even the biggest fan can one day wake up to find that he has lost his faith. We all want to believe in our heroes. That's why Jeremy got into cycling. But what happens when you can't? When you've seen too many positive dope tests, when you've been lied to too many times, when your sport is destroying itself from within?

"Bad Blood" is the story of Jeremy Whittle's journey from unquestioning fan to Tour de France insider and confirmed sceptic. It's about broken friendships and a sport divided; about having to choose sides in the war against doping; about how galloping greed and corporate opportunism have led the Tour de France to the brink of destruction. Part personal memoir, part devastating expose of a sport torn apart by drugs and scandal, "Bad Blood" is a love letter to one man's past, and a warning to cycling's future.

The Cyclist's Training Bible, Joe Friel

2009-09-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Joe Friel, the most trusted name in coaching, has equipped thousands of athletes for success with his scientifically proven training system. This new edition of his best-selling "Cyclist's Training Bible" includes all of the latest advances in training and technology.

Using this book, cyclists can create a comprehensive, self-coached training plan that is both scientifically proven and shaped around their personal goals. "The Cyclist's Training Bible" speaks to cyclists of all ability levels, whatever their experience. Joe Friel empowers athletes with every detail they need to consider when planning a season, lining up a week of workouts, or preparing to race.

The fourth edition includes extensive revisions on the specifics of how to train and what to eat. Friel explains how cyclists can: best gauge intensity with power meters and other new training technology to maximize form and fitness and reduce fatigue; more knowledgeably and accurately make changes to their annual training plan over the course of a season; dramatically build muscular endurance with strength training; and, improve body composition and recovery with smarter nutrition.

With more case studies to draw from and multiple contingency plans for those times when training doesn't progress as planned, "The Cyclist's Training Bible" continues to be the definitive guide to optimal cycling performance. Colour interior, illustrations, charts, and tables throughout.

Thunder and Sunshine, Alastair Humphries

2009-09-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Alastair Humphreys' round the world journey of 46,000 miles was an old-fashioned adventure: long, lonely, low-budget and spontaneous. Cycling across five continents and sailing over the oceans, his ride took four years to complete, on a tiny budget of hoarded student loans.

"Thunder and Sunshine" is the final part of the remarkable expedition. Having pedalled through the Middle East and Africa and to Cape Town. He still had to cross to South America and ride upto Canada across Siberia and back through Europe to finish his journey. In many ways, this was only the beginning. "Thunder and Sunshine" recounts an epic journey that succeeded through Humphreys' trust in the kindness of strangers, at a time where the interactions of our global community are more confused and troubled than ever.

See also Moods of Future Joys: Around the World by Bike Part 1

The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography, Matt Rendell

2009-09-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

At 9:30 pm on 14 February 2004, former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani was found dead in Rimini.

It emerged that he had been addicted to cocaine since Autumn 1999, weeks after being expelled from the Tour of Italy for blood doping. Conspiracy theories abounded - that he was injected in his sleep by a business rival, that the Olympic Committee had framed him, that Italian Industrialists had engineered his downfall, etc etc. If none of these is entirely true and none of them fully explains Pantani's personal tragedy, none of them is foundationless.

This book debunks the myths and makes surprising revelations. About Pantani's personal tragedy, but also about the world of cycling. Matt Rendell had access not only to court transcripts but to many of Pantani's friends and the doctors who treated him. But Pantani's life is about much more than drug addiction. Lance Armstrong described him as 'more of an artist than an athlete - an extravagant figure ...' Despite being plagued with injuries he won both the Giro and the Tour in 1998, something very few cyclists even attempt. He was an inspirational icon, and the remarkable wins against all odds make gripping reading.

The Time-crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week, Chris Carmichael and Jim Rutberg

2009-09-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

Designed by Lance Armstrong's personal coach, "The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast, and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week" presents a high-intensity, low-volume training programme that delivers competitive fitness and power without the impossible time demands of conventional approaches.

In less than six hours a week, cyclists can develop the snap, endurance, and strength they need to push the pace in the local group ride, have fun and perform well in local races, or tackle a challenging 100-mile fundraiser without committing to a traditional, high-volume training programme. Drawing upon the same programme he designed for 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, Olympic and U.S. Cycling Team coach Chris Carmichael shows men and women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond how to build fitness on a realistic schedule that fits into the busy lives of today's active middle-agers.

Complete with training plans, case studies, nutritional guidelines, and success stories, "The Time-Crunched Cyclist" is the book working professionals and parents have been waiting for. There are no shortcuts; the book's plans require dedication to high-intensity workouts that are based on the same principles Carmichael uses to train top-level pros. The payoff is competitive cycling fitness in less time than previously thought possible. Cycling is more fun when you are fit, and now great fitness is achievable for cyclists who thought their best performances evaporated along with their free time.

Lance Armstrong: Tour de Force, Dan Coyle

2009-09-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Lance Armstrong rewrote the record books in 2005 when he won the Tour de France for an unprecedented seventh time. Daniel Coyle followed his progress, throughout that season, examining what made him push himself to the limit of his endurance, for his bestselling book Tour de Force now fully updated with his celebrated return to the Tour in 2009.

The world's most challenging athletic endeavour is also one of the biggest and most popular annual sports events in the world. The 2005 race witnessed Texan Lance Armstrong clinch his seventh Tour de France victory -- something that no other rider has achieved in the event's 100-year history. This book looks into the unprecedented build up to the Tour, focusing on Armstrong's season and on the physical and mental limits of endurance through which he forced himself. Starting off in February when he made his annual move to Girona in Spain where preparation for the Tour becomes all-consuming, all the details of his hypermasochistic training regime will be unveiled, from sleeping in an altitude tent to the miles of gruelling riding through the pain barrier.

This 'inside story' also involves access to Armstrong's US Postal Service Team and key rivals in the battle for the Yellow Jersey -- among them German Jan Ulrich, American Tyler Hamilton, and Spaniard Joseba Beloki. Above all, Armstrong's motivational strengths and burning desire to achieve are the focus of a book that celebrates a unique sporting phenomenon -- a fascinating look at history in the making and the colourful world of professional road cycling.

Olympic Gangster: The Legend of Jose Beyaert - Cycling Champion, Fortune Hunter and Outlaw, Matt Rendell

2009-09-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Restlessly vital and possessed of great physical strength, Jose Beyaert lived many lives. During the Second World War, he boxed and trafficked arms for the Resistance on his bicycle. After it, he became an international cyclist. In 1948, a mile from the end of the Olympic road race around Windsor Park, he broke away alone to take the gold medal and started an adventure that would last the rest of his life. A Tour de France rider in the sport's golden age, Jose was invited to open a new velodrome in Colombia, South America. He travelled, intending to stay a month. Instead, driven by his thirst for adventure, he stayed for fifty years, becoming by turns athlete, coach, businessman, emerald-trader, logger, smuggler, perhaps even hired killer.

Matt Rendell, who knew Jose Beyaert and met many of his family, friends and associates, tells the fascinating story of an almost-forgotten sporting hero who, incapable of living to other people's rules, lived his many lives on his own terms.

Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson, William Fotheringham

2009-09-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

Tom Simpson was an Olympic medallist, world champion and the first Briton to wear the fabled yellow jersey of the Tour de France. He died a tragic early death on the barren moonscape of the Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour.

Forty years on, hundreds of fans still make the pilgrimage to the windswept memorial which marks the spot where he died. A man of contradictions, Simpson was one of the first cyclists to admit to using banned drugs, and was accused of fixing races, yet the dapper "Major Tom" inspired awe and affection for the obsessive will to win which was ultimately to cost him his life.

This new edition of William Fotheringham's classic biography, published to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of Simpson's death, features a preface and final chapter featuring further revelations about Simpson's life and death.

Tomorrow, We Ride, Jean Bobet

2009-09-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we ride. that's what my brother Louison and I used to say as we arranged to meet: every day while we were racing cyclists, and then just on Sundays when we weren't competing any more. We kept on riding until the end of his life, because even then - especially then, perhaps - we always understood each other best on bikes. We had always needed a bike beneath us. In the words of the song, we took the high road and the low road: in cycling, the glory days always have less glorious ones on their tail.

Thanks to Louison, I had the good fortune to ride with him through the golden years, the 50s: the years of post-war reconstruction, of Coppi and Bartali, of Kubler and Koblet, of Gaul and Van Steenbergen, Anquetil and Darrigade. These are names that speak of the aristocracy of cycling, and the fierceness of the competition. Every day, Louison and I took pleasure in cycling together, whether on our intimate journeys through Brittany or the Alps, or in the frenzy of the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia."

Jean Bobet's book is not so much a biography of his superstar brother Louison, nor his own autobiography, but rather an account of the intermingling of their two lives. And what lives - Louison, triple Tour de France winner and World Champion and Jean (no mean rider himself) who gave up an academic career to ride in the service of his brother in pursuit of sporting glory. Set in the period after the war, this story brings alive the romance of the great races and the star riders of the day whose exploits lifted the public spirit after years of conflict and economic hardship.

Moods of Future Joys: Around the World by Bike - Part 1

2009-09-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

Mood of Future Joys" recounts an epic journey that succeeded through Alastair Humphrey's trust in the kindness of strangers, at a time where the interactions of our global community are more confused and troubled than ever. "Mood of Future Joys" follows Alastair of the first leg of his journey, across Africa, through Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. The book conveys his journey in a style that is 'reminiscent of the great tradition of British explorers' ("The Guardian"), his experience is at times brutal, he faces loneliness, despair and harsh conditions, but it would seem that it is worth the effort.

See also, Thunder & Sunshine, Part 2

Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, Lennard Zinn

2009-09-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

You only need one look inside to see why "Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance" has become one of the world's best-selling books on bike repair. This smartly organised and clearly illustrated guide to road bike repair and maintenance - now with colour for easier reference - can make a mechanic out of anyone.

Lennard Zinn's expert advice makes quick work of taking care of every part of a road bike. Zinn can teach anyone how to completely and properly maintain all aspects of a bicycle to ensure years of trouble-free riding. Newcomers and experienced mechanics alike will benefit from the hundreds of illustrations, the exploded views of how components go together, and Zinn's practical, time-saving tips. The level of detail is astonishing, but Zinn's friendly advice is confidence-inspiring, and his years of experience make tackling even the most daunting task fun and easy.

All the latest high-tech equipment is covered in this new edition, but Zinn does not neglect older bike technology. Indeed, no matter what road bike you may have in your garage, chances are you'll find it - and the way to fix it - in these pages.

This new edition includes the basics - even if your mechanical skills stop at pumping tires, Lennard's guidance will show you how to maintain your bike in perfect condition. The advanced - no matter how arcane the task, Lennard has time-saving tips to speed your work. Integrated spindle cranks, carbon forks, internal headsets, ceramic bearings - they're all in here with exploded diagrams to show you the way. The latest tech - Lennard makes sense out of the newest components including: Campagnolo's 11-speed, Shimano's electronic Dura-Ace, SRAM's Red shifters, Campagnolo's Ultra-Torque cranks, and more. Older components - still spinning a SunTour freewheel? Let Lennard's years of experience help you make sense of old metal. Cyclocross - new cyclocross-specific information throughout, along with more Pro Tips, more illustrations, more recommendations - more of what you need to know.

Tour Climbs: The Complete Guide to Every Mountain Stage on the Tour De France, Chris Sidwells

2009-09-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

The first book to cover in detail every major climb ever used in the Tour de France, including detail on the actual route (with maps and profile), length, height, list of winners and route descriptions of how to emulate the King of the Mountains and get from the bottom to the top.

Every year the Tour de France is said to only really start when it reaches the first mountain stages: the drama of the race only really begins as the climbers take over in the Pyrenees, Vosges or Alps. The Tour is also the most famous classic in cycling and draws huge audiences to the TV and internet coverage (the official web site holds the world record for number of hits excluding search engines).

But the route of the Tour is not just for professionals. A growing number of people now take their bikes and actually do a stage of the Tour (the Etap - for amateurs, which this year attracted 8,000 people to climb one of the hardest mountain stages in the Tour) or spend a week doing some of the more notorious climbs (Ventoux - where Tommy Simpson died in the 50s).

This book is for everyone who watches the Tour and has even the slightest of an inkling that they'd like to do at least one of the climbs. Packed with information on each climb, this is the ultimate guide to the Tour climbs, which will remain important for many years to come (the Tour only uses a set number of climbs, which they return to every couple of years). Contents - Eastern Pyrenees, Central Pyrenees, Western Pyrenees, Vosges & Jura, Massif & Cevennes, Northern Alps, Central Alps and Southern Alps

A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium, Bob Roll

2009-09-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

When a normal situation suddenly changes, Belgians call it 'een hond met een hoed op,' a dog with a hat on. Joe Parkin, an American bike racer who left the familiar comforts of home to compete at the highest professional level in Belgium, was that dog in a hat - something familiar, yet decidedly out of place.In his searing, no-holds-barred memoir, Parkin describes the true life of the professional bike racer.

His plain spoken prose puts us in the whirlwind of this hardest of athletic educations, starting with the first visit to his team doctor, where, strapped to a metal table and monitored by humming electrodes, men in white lab coats coldly divine his future as a pro.Parkin pulls no punches. "A Dog in a Hat" celebrates the glory of bike racing, but Parkin tells the hard reality of the life thrillingly - the drugs, the payoffs, the betrayals by team-mates, the battles with team owners for contracts and money, the endless promises that keep you going, and the sheer physical agony of racing day after day.Despite the pain, despite the suffering, "A Dog in a Hat" is a beautiful book.

It is one racer's story of his love affair with professional cycling, set in the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer. It is a story untold until now, and one that Parkin's readers will never forget.

The Escape Artist: Life from the Saddle, Matt Seaton

2009-09-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Seaton's book, like Nick Hornby's, is about male obsession and the ways it changes (or doesn't) in the face of growing responsibility and maturity. In Fever Pitch the obsession was Arsenal FC; in The Escape Artist the obsession is cycle-racing, the sport of strange, lycra-clad lads with shaved legs and eyes permanently fixed on the back wheel of the bike ahead.

Seaton is particularly good at evoking the rituals of the sport (the loving maintenance of both body and bike, the relentless monitoring of calories, pulse beats and heart rates) and at recreating the adrenaline thrills it provides. His descriptions of his own races--with the cyclists bunched together for mile after mile, each one testing and assessing the pace and stamina of the others, until the sudden, dramatic opportunity to "escape" the pack offers itself--go a long way towards explaining the otherwise inexplicable hold the sport has on its devotees. His accounts of his own developing responsibilities, and of the tragedy of his wife's illness and premature death, which force him to reassess the priorities in his life, seem more tentative. It is as if the experiences, unsurprisingly, are still too raw and painful to be approached in any less oblique and indirect way. Yet it is these passages that give the book an individuality that makes it much more than just another story of male obsession.

The Escape Artist is a brief book, easily read, but it is a moving one and it manages to say much in a short space about subjects more important than cycle-racing.

Road Bike Maintenance, Guy Andrews

2009-09-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Road Bike Maintenance provides cycling enthusiasts with step-by-step guidance to maintaining and repairing their bikes, combining an easy-to-use format and design with high quality photographs of the latest equipment.

Understanding how to look after your own bike is a necessary skill - particularly given the costs of modern bikes (even basic bikes are around GBP500) and services in bike shops (often GBP100 plus). This book guides the reader through every repair possible on a road bike and also give tips on how to spot the early warning signs of trouble so that you can fix the problem before it leads to costly relacements. The spiral bound design means that the book will open flat so that you can easily follow the fully illustrated step-by-step guidance.

It is the perfect reference manual to have in your shed or workshop and also contain lots of tips on how to conduct quick repairs if you get into trouble while out on the road.

Cycling is My Life, Tommy Simpson

2009-09-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

The cyclist Tom Simpson is a legend. The first British world champion, the first Briton to pull on the fabled yellow jersey of the Tour de France - he brought professional cycling to a nation and inspired generations of riders. His autobiography, "Cycling is My Life", was written the year before he died tragically on the barren moonscape of Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour aged just twenty-nine.

Forty years on, hundreds of fans still make the pilgrimage to the windswept memorial which marks the spot where he died. In an age where each Tour de France seems more blighted by scandal than the next, Simpson's story is as relevant now as it was then. A man of contradictions, Simpson was one of the first cyclists to admit to using banned drugs, yet the dapper 'Major Tom' inspired awe and affection from the British public for the obsessive will to win which was ultimately to cost him his life.

First published in 1966, Simpson's autobiography is essential reading for every dedicated cycling fan and an engaging story of the life of an iconic sportsman. From the original reviews:

'The book will be an inspiration to all the thousands of youngsters starting in the sport' - "Daily Express".

'An absorbing story of a man whose life has already thrilled millions' - "Sporting Cyclist".

Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape: The Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil, the First Five-times Winner of the Tour De France, Paul Howard

2009-09-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

"Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" is an astonishing biography of French cycling star Jacques Anquetil that pieces together, for the first time since his death in 1987, the story of his extraordinary life.

On its own, Anquetil's list of 'firsts' makes him worthy of a place in the cycling pantheon: he was the first man to win the Tour de France five times; the first to win all three grand tours (the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia); and the first to win both the Tour and Vuelta in the same year.

As well as dealing with Anquetil's considerable achievements as a cyclist, this book also explores his complex, unconventional and shocking private life. Among the many revelations, we learn how he seduced his doctor's wife; how he acted as stepfather to her children before asking his stepdaughter to bear him a child; how, after his blood-daughter was born, he maintained a menage a trois with his wife and stepdaughter for several years in the same house until the 'family' eventually fell apart; and how, in a bid to inspire jealousy in his two former lovers and encourage their return, he seduced his stepson's ex-wife and had a child with her.

Containing exclusive contributions from Anquetil's family, friends, teammates and rivals, "Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" unveils the real truth about one of cycling's great legends.

In Pursuit of Glory: The Autobiography, Bradley Wiggins

2009-09-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Bradley Wiggins is the son of a professional cyclist and he first competed at twelve, and immediately knew that this was what he wanted to do for his career. By the age of twenty, he won his first Olympic medal, in Sydney, before turning to professional road cycling in 2001.

Since then Wiggins has developed into one of the UK's most successful cyclists of all time, winning a gold in Athens and double gold in Beijing. However, it was when his team Cofidis was suspended from the 2007 Tour de France that he made his most outspoken comments yet on the issue of doping in cycling, and earned the respect of all followers of sport for his stand.

Wiggins is an inspirational figure to many: immensely talented, dedicated and cool, he has brought his sport to a whole new audience and was awarded the OBE in 2004 for his efforts. This honest and compelling account of his life and career not only reveals the sheer hard work required to get to the very top, but also provide a fascinating and controversial insight into the sometimes murky world of cycling.

Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain's Track Cycling Revolution, Richard Moore

2009-09-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

As the first Briton for 100 years to win three gold medals in one Olympic Games, Scottish track cyclist Chris Hoy has rewritten the record books. Critically acclaimed writer Richard Moore shadows Hoy throughout the current season -- fully updated with events in Beijing -- to provide an unprecedented insight into the secret world of track cycling.

Heroes, Villains and Velodromes reveals how an elite athlete, Chris Hoy, lives, breathes and pushes the boundaries of his sport. How does he do it? And why? What drives him to put his body through the physical and mental hurdles to become the best in the world? And what is it like to be Olympic champion, astonishingly in three different cycling disciplines?This is also the story of an extraordinary year in the life of an extraordinary sportsman and his team, one which started with his best-ever world championships in Mallorca -- where, for the first time in his career, Hoy became a double world champion -- continued with his attempt on the world kilometre record in La Paz, Bolivia and two gold medals at the 2008 world championships in Manchester, before a glorious climax with seven golds for Hoy and the British track cycling team at the Beijing Olympics.

By shadowing Hoy through a season, author Richard Moore has gained an unembellished insight into the mind of a World and Olympic champion. He has also attained unprecedented levels of access to the key members of the all-conquering British team and support staff, including top coaches, world-renowned psychiatrists, doctors (where the subject of drug abuse is an ever-present shadow) and the pivotal characters behind the scenes.

Combining his forensic knowledge of the cycling world with his acclaimed skills as a tenacious investigative journalist, Moore captures the mood of the British team and explores an area of professional sport that has rarely been seen before.

We Might as Well Win: On the Road to Success with the Mastermind Behind a Record-setting Eight Tour De France Victories, Johan Bruyneel

2009-09-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Johan Bruyneel knows what it takes to win. In 1998, the former pro cyclist backed a struggling rider and determined that he would win the world's most famous race. 'If we're going to ride the Tour,' he said, 'we might as well win.' In that moment, a dynasty was born.

With Bruyneel as his team director, Lance Armstrong, having recovered from cancer, seized a record seven straight Tour de France victories. Meanwhile, Bruyneel went on to prove he could win without his superstar, winning the Tour de France title in 2007 with a young new team and a of nerve.This is the first time the man closest to Armstrong has unveiled his secrets. We are privy to the many ways he and Armstrong outsmarted their opponents through intense preparation and training, as well as bluff on occasions. Whether mounting a difficult climb, managing a team of 30 riders and 40 support staff from a miniature car hurtling along narrow European roads, or looking a future legend in the eye and willing him to believe, Bruyneel is, and has always been, the consummate winner. This is his story.

From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France, David Walsh

2009-09-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

The Daily Telegraph Book of the Tour de France, Martin Smith

2009-09-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

Man, a bike and the open road. What could be simpler? Certainly not the Tour de France, the annual travelling circus which for more than a century has been the ultimate test of sporting endurance. There's been pain. There's been joy. There's been death. There's been derring-do of mythic proportions. There's been cheating. There've been drugs. There've always been drugs. And there's always been The Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph has been there for just about every turn of the wheel.

Up in the mountains, on Mont Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier, the legendary climbs. Ploughing through the picnicking, partying crowds; whizzing through the Kent countryside in 2007's wondrous opening stage; dropping in and out of the peloton; and dodging the spills. Now the full drama of the Tour is captured here through the contemporary reports of the Telegraph's cycling correspondents, including J.B. Wadley, David Saunders and Phil Liggett, who chronicled firsthand the achievements of cycling greats like Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Lance Armstrong; as well reporting the contest's darker side, such as Tom Simpson's death in 1967 and the stain of doping.

They are joined on the road at times by others offering their own insights into the greatest show on two wheels: Chris Boardman and David Millar provide views from the saddle; James Cracknell swaps rowing boat for bike on a pre-race stage; Paul Hayward catalogues the 1998 'Tour of Shame'; while Brendan Gallagher eulogises the colossi who bestrode the race, and tries to find their modern-day successors. A fascinating treasure trove of cycling history The Daily Telegraph Book of the Tour de France will keep you reading on and on and on - all the way to that triumphant finish on the Champs-Elysees.